Huge storm to hit the east. Are they ready?

A huge storm, which some are calling the perfect storm is going to hit the east coast next week.  Or at least they are calling it a 70% chance. With so much advance notice everyone should be completely ready for this.  Or are they going to stick their heads in the sand?  Are many people going to pretend that the electricity won't go out on them, just the people on the next block?  The food in their freezers won't go bad.  They will have lights.  And warmth.  

Is there going to be a mad rush to the store this week, especially in a few days when the first bits of clouds move in?  I'm sure there will be. We will once again see pictures of the local 7-11 stripped of the food on the shelves.  After all, isn't that the best place, and the best use of your money to get your provisions.  After all there may be a glitch in their everyday lives for a couple of weeks until everything gets cleans up and back to normal.  

Now those folks who live right along the water and think how wonderful that is. Sure, when you don't have to worry about high tides right at the same time as the storm surges.  Having a house full of food and supplies won't do you much good if the house is underwater.  
   
What a lousy way to live!  Being prepared is so much easier.  Choosing the right place to live is even better.  It doesn't matter if you are in an apartment, a house in the city or suburbs, or out in the country.  What matters is you've taken the most likely scenarios that may happen where you live and prepare for them.  How about those people who may get hit with this storm?  Are they going to rush out to buy plywood for the windows or is the plywood stored from the last storm and the storm before?

Right now I'm on my countdown to having everything I'd need (not everything I'd want) to live on for at least a year but trying to make it permanent.  Just in case things get crazy in November as people prepare for whatever may come in December, I don't want to have to go to the store to buy anything.  While I'm not expecting the world as we know it to end, just as most people aren't expecting that, I do believe that in many places there will be some hoarding going on as people want to be ready "just in case".  If I have everything I need, then I won't be there standing in the way as I try to get a normal shopping done.  Let them hoard.  Remember, hoarding is buying a lot when there are shortages.  Having items stored at home that you bought in times of plenty is not hoarding.  

There's enough food in the homestore that if the grocery stores stopped selling there's enough to hold us over until the gardens and animals would be at full capacity to support us for good.  Yesterday the grandkids and I went to Costco and Winco.  After we were done I told them that we weren't going back to the store again until next year, with the exception of buying milk, a turkey, and bananas.  And, you know, if I wasn't able to go back to the store to get those items we'd be just fine.  We'd have chicken for dinner on Thanksgiving.  And lasagna.  Yes, lasagna is a family tradition at Thanksgiving when my sister-in-law is over since she's vegetarian.  I think she's coming for Thanksgiving this year. 

There's enough clothing and material to wear or make what we need.  Now I'd still like to shop a couple times per year for the kids, but I wouldn't have to if things got bad.  If only I could get the grandkids to stop growing and wearing out their shoes...

I did find a major flaw in my preparedness schedule.  It's for repair of my plumbing.  My well sends pipe to two different places in the backyard and another pipe to the house.  Most of that pipe is almost 40 years old!  We are talking plastic PVC pipe.  That is not good!  Not only that but the pipe coming to the house is one size, the pipe to the garden is another size, and the pipe to the fenceline that's supposed to go out to the pasture is another.  This weekend I'm going to try to make a good assessment of what my outdoor needs are and see if I can afford to purchase them.  Needs, not wants.  I have a list of thousands of dollars of wants. 

If you had a week notice would you be able to get ready?  I'm not talking about the attitude many people have of saying they are going to max out the credit cards because who cares?  I'm talking cash on the barrel for your purchases, closets filled with provisions and backups ready.  All years I've given myself a deadline of November 1.  It's almost here and I'm almost ready.   I don't have a "perfect storm" approaching like the northeast...at least not one that is so easy to see.